Editing Edward Coke (section)

==Personal life==
[[File:Bridget Paston (wife of Sir Edward Coke).jpg|thumb|Bridget Paston, Coke's first wife.|alt=An image of Bridget Paston, Edward Coke's first wife. She is sitting next to a table covered in white cloth, on which she rests her arm, and is wearing a white dress with a corset, a long skirt and a wide ruff around the neck and shoulders.]]
[[Image:Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck.jpg|thumb|200px|Coke's daughter Frances, Lady Purbeck, who caused a scandal by leaving her husband]]
[[File:William Aikman (1682-1731) - Thomas Coke (1697–1759), 1st Earl of Leicester - 355552 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|200px|Coke's descendant [[Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation)|Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester]] (fifth creation).]]
[[File:St Mary's church in Huntingfield - C17 memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1931877.jpg|thumb|Monument erected by Sir Edward Coke in St Mary's Church, Huntingfield, Suffolk, to his mother-in-law Anne Moulton (d. 1595), of Huntingfield Hall, mother of Bridget Paston, as stated on the inscription. His arms at base impaling Paston]]
On 13 August 1582 Coke married Bridget, the daughter of John Paston, a [[Lawyer|Counsellor]] from Norwich.<ref name=block56>{{Harvnb|Block|1929|p=56}}</ref> Paston came from a long line of lawyers and judges – his great grandfather, [[Paston Letters|William Paston]], was a Justice of the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]].<ref name=block56/> Having grown up nearby, Coke knew the family and asked for Bridget's hand immediately after she turned eighteen. At the time he was a thirty-one-year-old barrister with a strong practice, and her father had no qualms about accepting his offer.<ref name=block57>{{Harvnb|Block|1929|p=57}}</ref> Six months after they married John Paston died, leaving his daughter and son-in-law his entire estate and several of his clients.<ref name=block57/> Bridget maintained a diary, which reveals that she mainly ran the household. Despite this she was an independent woman,<ref>{{Harvnb|Boyer|2003|p=210}}</ref> travelling without her husband and acting as a helpmate to Coke.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boyer|2003|p=211}}</ref> Bridget was noted by Woolrych as an "incomparable" woman who had "inestimable value clearly manifested by the eulogies which are lavished on her character".<ref>{{Harvnb|Woolrych|1826|p=26}}</ref> The couple settled at the [[Huntingfield Manor|manor of Huntingfield]], described by [[Catherine Drinker Bowen]] as "enchanting, with a legend for every turret&nbsp;... A splendid gallery ran the length of the house, the Great Hall was built around six massive oaks which supported the roof as they grew".<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowen|1957|p=64}}</ref>

The couple had ten children – seven sons and three daughters. The sons were Edward, [[Robert Coke (Coventry MP)|Robert]], Arthur, John, [[Henry Coke|Henry]], [[Clement Coke|Clement]] and Thomas. Edward died young, Robert became a [[Knight Bachelor]] and married Theophila, daughter of [[Thomas Berkeley (1575–1611)|Thomas Berkeley]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowen|1957|p=298}}</ref> Arthur married Elizabeth, heir of Sir George Walgrave, John married Meriel, daughter of Anthony Wheately, bringing [[Holkham Hall]] into the Coke family,<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowen|1957|p=528}}</ref> Henry married Margaret, daughter of Richard Lovelace, and inherited the manor at Holkham from his brother John (who had seven daughters but no son), Clement married Sarah, heiress of Alexander Redich, and Thomas died as an infant.<ref name=wool11>{{Harvnb|Woolrych|1826|p=12}}</ref> The daughters were Elizabeth, Anne and Bridget. Elizabeth died young, [[Anne Sadleir|Anne]] married [[Ralph Sadleir]], son and heir of [[Thomas Sadleir (died 1607)|Sir Thomas Sadleir]], and Bridget married William Skinner, son and heir of Sir Vincent Skinner.<ref>{{Harvnb|Woolrych|1826|p=11}}</ref> Coke's descendants through Henry include the [[Earl of Leicester|Earls of Leicester]], particularly [[Coke of Norfolk]], a landowner, Member of Parliament and agricultural reformer.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stirling|2008|p=501}}</ref> Ironically in view of Coke's legal opposition to James I, a descendant of both Coke and James is [[Sarah, Duchess of York]].

Following his first wife's death in 1598, Coke married [[Elizabeth Hatton]], a desirable marriage due to her wealth; when he found out that Bacon was also pursuing her hand, Coke acted with all speed to complete the ceremony. It was held at a private house at the wrong time, rather than at a church between 8 and 12 in the morning; all involved parties were prosecuted for breaching ecclesiastical law, and Coke had to beg for a pardon.<ref>{{Harvnb|Watt|1915|p=261}}</ref> It is said that Coke first suggested marrying Hatton to [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Sir Robert Cecil]], Hatton's uncle, at the funeral of [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Lord Burghley]], Coke's patron; he needed to ensure that he would continue his rise under Burghley's son, Cecil, and did this by marrying into the family. Hatton was 26&nbsp; years younger than Coke, hot-tempered and articulate; Boyer wrote that "if she and Coke were not compatible, at least they were well-matched".<ref>{{Harvnb|Boyer|2003|p=213}}</ref> Their marriage having broken down in 1604, Hatton went on to become a formidable antagonist and thorn in his side.<ref name = "Thrush" /> At his funeral she remarked, "We shall never see his like again, thanks be to God".

In 1602 he bought [[Minster Lovell]], an Oxfordshire 15th-century manor house which had previously belonged to the Lovell family before it was forfeited to the state in 1485.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/minster-lovell-hall-and-dovecote/history/|title=History of Minster Lovell Hall and Dovecote|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref>

Coke was buried beside his first wife, who was called his "first and best wife" by his daughter Anne; his second wife died in 1646.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boyer|2003|p=214}}</ref> Coke had two children with his second wife, both daughters: Elizabeth and [[Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck]]. Elizabeth married [[Maurice Berkeley (Gloucestershire MP)|Sir Maurice Berkeley]]. Frances married [[John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck]], but left him soon afterwards for her lover Sir [[Robert Howard (Royalist)|Robert Howard]], with whom she lived for many years, to the great scandal of the Court.<ref>{{Harvnb|Woolrych|1826|p=17}}</ref>

Of Coke's many children, the one who came at the last in his final years of life to manage his house at Stoke Poges and watch over him was ironically his youngest child, Frances Villiers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowen|1957|p=529}}</ref> After Coke's dismissal as Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in an attempt to ingratiate himself with King James and his favourite, [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|the Duke of Buckingham]], Coke devised a plan to marry off his youngest daughter Frances to Buckingham's infirm older brother, Sir John Villiers. By transferring a marriage payment of £10,000 and other properties to Sir John Villiers, control of the funds would reside in the hands of Buckingham. This would lessen the pressure on the king to provide funds to his favourite. Sir John Villiers was an undesirable match for someone as beautiful and vibrant as Frances Coke. Frances and her mother, Lady Hatton, were determined to oppose the marriage. Lady Hatton, through a forged letter, claimed that Frances was promised to [[Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford]], but the ploy was unsuccessful. To further thwart Coke's attempt, Frances and her mother, Lady Hatton, fled and hid in Sir Edmund Withipole's home. After searching many properties, Coke eventually found them there. With a band of ten retainers including his son Clem, the party crashed through the front door of Sir Withipole's house using a heavy piece of timber and found Frances and Lady Hatton upstairs. As Sir Edward dragged them apart, he commanded his daughter, "You will come home with me to Stoke". Frances was placed on a horse with her half-brother Clem and they raced away with Lady Hatton and her family members in hot pursuit. However, the muddy road conditions prevented Lady Hatton from rescuing her daughter. After a failed petition to the King by Lady Hatton through her friend (and Coke's arch-enemy) Sir Francis Bacon, in which Frances' dowry played an important role in securing the king's permission for the marriage to proceed as arranged by the bride's father, Frances was married off to Villiers against her will. Nevertheless, despite this tragic relationship trauma between father and daughter, Coke and his daughter eventually reconciled. Coke's final years with Frances devotedly by his side were very happy and peaceful ones for them both.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowen|1957|p=401}}</ref>